Russia’s OTT market is growing rapidly, having increased in size by 31% to R3.4 billion (€49.7 million) in 2015.

Furthermore, according to Konstantin Ankilov, general director of TMT Consulting, it is expected to reach R9.6 billion in 2020.

Speaking at a conference organised by Telecom Daily and quoted by the publication, Ankilov added that OTT encompasses a number of services, including IP telephony, instant messaging and online video.

However, the latter is the most lucrative financially and now accounts for 40% of the total OTT video market.

Furthermore, proceeds from ad and fee funded models are likely to be the same in the near future.

Speaking at the same conference, Irina Levova, director of strategic projects of the Internet Research Institute, said that there was no common understanding of what OTT services are. Indeed, most internet services seemed to be classified as OTT.

However, the main issue was that of compliance with net neutrality. This is at present just a recommendation and not enshrined in law in Russia – and rightly so, in her view.

More generally, Levova felt that the regulation of OTT, by the law on information like other internet services, was at present sufficient.